Heightened Sense Of Taste Can Promote Weight Loss

People can lose weight by flavoring their food with calorie-free seasonings and sweeteners, which may make them feel full faster and decrease their consumption, according to a new study. The results were presented at The Endocrine Society's 90th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

Alan Hirsch, MD, founder and neurologic director of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago, studied " tastants, " substances that can stimulate the sense of taste. He asked 2, 436 overweight or obese individuals to sprinkle a variety of savory or sweet crystals on their food before eating their meals during the 6-month study period. Subjects put liberal applications of salt-free savory flavors on salty foods and applied sugar-free sweet crystals on sweet or neutral-tasting foods. They didn't know what flavors were other than salty or sweet. The hidden flavors of savory tastants were cheddar cheese, onion, horseradish, ranch dressing, taco, or parmesan. Sweet flavors were cocoa, spearmint, banana, strawberry, raspberry, and malt.

A control group of 100 volunteers did not use tastants. Both groups were allowed to diet and exercise if they were already doing so. For both subjects and controls, Hirsch measured weight and body mass index ( BMI ) - a measure of height and weight - before and after study.

At start of study, treatment group had an average weight of 208 pounds and average BMI of 34, which is considered obese. After 6 months of using the crystals, 1, 436 subjects who completed the study lost an average of 30. 5 pounds, compared with just 2 pounds for the untreated controls. Their BMI dropped by an average of 5, moving them from obesity to the overweight range. Controls had an average BMI decrease of 0. 3.

Hirsch theorized that subjects lost more weight than controls did because the tastants made them feel full faster and therefore eat less. However, he didn't track amount of food the subjects ate. Another possibility, he said, is that crystals improved taste of bland but healthy foods, such as tofu and some vegetables, causing a change toward healthier eating habits. He said he believes this approach works because, unlike most diets, it isn't based on food restriction.

Subjects lost an average of nearly 15 percent of their body weight, results showed. It's not clear whether apparent weight loss benefits of tastants would extend past 6 months or to people who weigh less than the obese subjects in this study.

" It could be that the percent of weight reduction would be lower in people who are less obese, " Hirsch said. " In theory, tastants will not work for people who eat even when they're full and for people who have lost their sense of smell. "

Hirsch said tastants worked so well that they contributed to dropout rate. Some of subjects stopped study before 6 months because they already had reached their ideal body weight - an unexpected result, he said.

Despite the tastant crystals not yet being commercially available, Hirsch said that people can use these techniques of enhancing their senses of smell and taste, to lose weight now. " Sniff your food before we eat it. Chew it a lot. Choose low-calorie foods and season them, " he suggested.

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Founded in 1916, The Endocrine Society is the world's oldest, largest, and most active organization devoted to research on hormones, and clinical practice of endocrinology. Today, The Endocrine Society's membership consists of over 14, 000 scientists, physicians, educators, nurses and students in more than 80 countries. Together, these members represent all basic, applied, and clinical interests in endocrinology. The Endocrine Society is based in Chevy Chase, Maryland. To learn more about Society, and field of endocrinology, visit our web site at http: //www. endo-society. org/.

Source: Aaron Lohr The Endocrine Society

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Metoprolol information.

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